Swim Smooth Perth Blog

Monday, May 13, 2019

Funky new swim caps coming your way with the 10 week winter program starting Monday 10th June!

Dear Swimmers

Hope you're doing well. Here's my office right now, sat at the foot of the Serpentine in Hyde Park, London (the scene of the triathlon and open water swimming events at the 2012 Olympics) prior to my flight over to Prague to finalise our Swim Smooth Kids & Juniors program (more on that in another post, shortly):

Funky new, reversible Swim Smooth silicon caps - a gift from us to you!

I wanted to keep you posted on the funky new swim caps we have coming your way...

...the artwork has been done and the first prototype has been made (they need brightening up a bit as you'll see), but if you're a current / active member of the squad, you'll be receiving one of these FREE cool new caps and be encouraged to wear them at each squad session. Why, you ask? Because they're reversible and aimed at being a fun way for you to show myself and the other coaches as well as your swimming buddies, what sort of mood you're in:

BLUE = I'm good to go and ready to rock this place! I'm charged up, I want to lead with that beeper and / or I want your feedback on my stroke*
ORANGE = I'm quite happy to take a bit of a back seat today...Rome wasn't built in a day and I'd prefer just to keep a low profile, thank you very much...don't even think about giving me that beeper!

*during technique sessions

I am sure this will be a bit of fun - even a bit of a social "experiment" - and I'm hoping you'll take it in that capacity and have a little laugh with us every time you don your new silicon Swim Smooth cap (super comfy!)...and yes, you can change your mind mid-session too and switch it around!!

The caps will be with us for the start of the new Swim Smooth Perth Winter Program, details of which are further below.

Fun challenge:

What might be fun to do, is for you to tally up how many times you wear blue vs orange over the course of the 10 week program...something to try at least!

Here's the look:

As every good GOT (Game of Thrones) fan knows, Winter is coming...

As we tail off into the winter, don't let that curtail the healthy habits you've established with regular swim squad attendance. Buoyed up with your cool new Swim Smooth Perth silicon swim cap, you'll be inspired to hit our crowd-favourite winter program running (or swimming!).

The winter program will commence on the 10th June and run for 10 weeks until the 18th August, just in time for you to then start thinking about ramping things up for the spring!

Whilst we have been trialling the mini whiteboards on pool deck in a random session order number, when we commence the program we'll be following these faithfully, in order, to guide us forwards. These sessions have been carefully selected as being both liked by you guys (from your feedback over the last 12-18 months) and also beneficial given their content.

The advantage of the mini whiteboards are:

for those of you in lanes 1 and 4 you will always be able to see what's coming up even though you might not have a direct view of the board
during Pure Technique sessions, this will allow you to work through the set session at your own pace, allowing myself or any of the other coaches to spend better time giving you valuable feedback on your strokes or better demonstrations of the exercises
this will all be keyed up with FREE access for every member of the squad from June to the Standard license of the www.swimsmooth.guru the advantage of which is that we can email through quick video links to watch through drills or technique focal points pre-session for you to really maximise your time in the squad

As ever, your feedback on each session will be really valuable - we'd love to get to the stage where you could hit a button (like above) as you leave each session, thus better catering to your needs and wants!!! Albeit, sometimes the stuff you don't necessarily like can be some of the best stuff for you!

You can watch more about the idea of us trying to make improvements for the benefit of your enjoyment of the squad here: https://vimeo.com/326580604

Cheers

Paul

Sunday, March 17, 2019

Port to Pub Results - Coach Ross pulls out a blinder!

Man of the moment: Swim Smooth Perth Coach, Ross Robertson, displays an inspirational level of stoicism to finish 8th overall in the 25km Port to Pub swim - on ya Ross!

Dear Swimmers

Well, there we go! It just goes to show that you can't judge a book by it's cover, hey? I readily admit that I had my doubts come Thursday last week that the Port to Pub might be headed the same way as last year given the weather forecast, and whilst it was anything but "smooth" out there, it was great that everyone got to have their chance to once again conquer the Rottnest Channel! Well done if you made it across!

Some interesting stats, Swim Smooth Perth Squad swimmers and 1-2-1 athletes accounted for:

20% of all Solo swimmers
10% of all Duo swimmers
9% of all Team of 4 swimmers
13% of all Team of 6 swimmers
13% of all Team of 4 assisted swimmers
60% of all Team of 6 assisted swimmers

Here's how those results break down:

A special mention...

I know you shouldn't technically have a "teacher's pet" (especially when it's one of your own coaches!), but what the heck, I'm going to anyway!

What a legend in every way!

Tuesday evening's Technique / Endurance coach Ross Robertson and his wife Mel have had a tough old time these last 18 months since their twins Luke and Harvey were born about 14 weeks premature:

Despite the tough times they've gone through, Ross has never once faltered with his consistency of running the Tuesday evening session (not once!), he's started a revived movement of SwimRun events here in WA with the Shoreline Swim Run Series and even ran a brilliant Olympic Distance Triathlon too. He runs his own swim coaching business in the northern suburbs and this is all just in addition to his normal full-time work. On top of all of that, Ross is a bloody brilliant guy and one of the nicest people you will meet. Always caring and always interested in what others are doing. So it makes me very proud indeed to see him swim a 7h37m 25km ultra-marathon yesterday on the back of a "very average" year of personal performances (his words!). Even just a few days ago, we were discussing how he might pull out of the event in attempt to ease some stress away, but kudos to Ross, he picked his plan to go out super steady and just build from 15km onwards if he could. I'd loved to have seen a virtual pathway of his route moving up through the field, as this strategy paid massive dividends to finish 8th overall! Well done Ross - so, so proud of you mate in light of everything I know you've gone through and how you've been feeling about things of late - a truly brilliant, stoic performance!

Well done to everyone who competed - the Lane 1 (630am) Aquadragons never cease to impress either, coming in with a very commendable time of 7h05m. Well done all!!

Cheers

Paul

P.S I have some cunning plans brewing for a winter challenge which (if we get this new app up soon) could mean some great rewards points towards some cool prizes...watch this space as the show must go on!

Sunday, March 10, 2019

Rottnest Channel Swim 2019 Musings

Not as fast as everyone thought...but the question is, "did that get to your head halfway across - a paranoia that everyone else must surely be having a better day than you?"

NOTE: swimmers in blue = top 3 men's times / pink = top 3 women's times / yellow = Swim Smooth Perth Squad swimmers in the 2018/2019 season / green = Paul Newsome's 1-2-1 Video Analysis swimmers and www.swimsmooth.guru users

Dear Swimmers

You'll note my tardiness in getting some response out about this year's Rottnest Channel Swim. Why? Simply because I've used the last two weeks to reflect on the results and also soak up all the feedback and stories from those in the squad (and wider afield) who did the event and their thoughts upon it.

It almost seems eerily ironic that I should have posted this article on Managing Expectation just a few days before the event, and this is also what I've held back with this year's summary too, in the hope that those of you now preparing for next weekend's Port to Pub event, might be in the headspace to try to soak up these views with 5-6 days to go before your big swim.

Whilst I'd highly encourage you to read the article above (about 2017), it basically breaks down like this (as did 2019):

weather forecast looks AMAZING
expectations about what might be possible RISE
excitement BUILDS - could this finally be my year to break XX hours?!
I'm feeling GREAT - I know this is going to be my BIG chance!
weather looks brilliant as you leave the beach and those not swimming are all MOANING about how they're MISSING OUT
you feel pumped - the energy PALPABLE
you find a good rhythm and the SUNRISE IS BEAUTIFUL
you tick off your first few feeds and all is ON TRACK
halfway across you check your time AND ITS NOT QUITE WHAT YOU'D HOPED
don't panic you tell yourself - could be JUST A BLIP?
next time check is still NO BETTER
maybe you're BLOWING UP or HAVING A BAD DAY?
panic sets in - EVERYONE else must be having a blinder, so why not me?!
you eventually get to Thomson's Bay, check out the clock and "on no!" WHAT HAPPENED?! Where's my SUPER FAST TIME?

...and that, as they say, is open water swimming at it's best - always unpredictable!

So yes, the weather was EXCELLENT but what about the CURRENTS - how do you know how these affected things?

First place to start - always look towards the winners: Solomon Wright set the course record in 2018, finally tipping under 4 hours. There's nothing to suggest he had a bad swim this year (he came a very creditable 2nd behind an equally great performance from Sam Sheppard and a further 7 minutes ahead of Perth "wonderkid" and one of my personal heroes, Rhys Mainstone), but he went 22 minutes slower than last year. That's nearly 9% slower on a day which, on the outset, looked just magic. Add that kind of margin to a 7 hour swimmer and you're adding nearly 40 minutes additional time. Furthermore, the longer you're out there exposed to the elements (SW wind picking up, possible strengthening of the current etc), and you can be assured that the conditions this year were anything but the idyllic conditions that we were all conjuring up in our heads. But therein lies the problem - our heads - when you're out there right in the thick of it, unsure of which way is truly west, or exactly how fast you're moving or what the currents are doing - the story so many of us tell ourselves when TIME IS OUR ONLY MEASURE is that we must be failing. How much of this then ultimately adds to our time and the feeling of how well we have or haven't done?

To this day, my biggest regret is my first ever solo finish in 2009. I desperately wanted to break 5 hours and felt I could probably fit inside the Top-20. I had done some training with David Cox (who went on to win the event) and I can recall our conversation on the start-line like it was yesterday: David told me "these brilliant conditions are ripe for the record, and I'm going to be the guy to do it!" - and yet he was one of only 5 swimmers to break 5 hours that year, finishing over 40 minutes behind the 2000 record of Mark Saliba. 40 minutes! Now David wasn't a dreamer - he was a brilliant swimmer - but I should have been looking at his result when I came across the line totally deflated with a 5h24m swim and yet I'd finished 6th male and 9th overall. I should have been chuffed, but I wasn't - I only saw 5h24m and in that I saw FAILURE.

Of course, in the past 10 years and having coached many hundreds of Solo swimmers myself now, having swum the English Channel in 2011 in atrocious conditions and managing a time little better than "average" but equally smashing the Manhattan Island Marathon Swim (46km) in 2013 with the overall title in super-fast speeds, I have come to really understand that there's really very little you can do out there other than trust in your training and manage your expectation when you're at it tooth and nail. Never assume that everyone else is having a better day than you just purely on your target times and paces. This is why we do so much training with the beepers to really dial in your paces so that you truly know what effort level you can sustain for whatever distance - if that results in brilliant times (like the Busselton Jetty Swim this year) because the conditions were so good, great! But if it means that your swim times were slower than expected at the Rottnest Channel Swim, then they are what they are. All you can really do is look at those around you as your benchmark - those that you've been swimming against all season and how they stacked up against you. But one thing's for sure - if you complete that swim, it's NEVER A FAILURE.

So, that all being said, congratulations to everyone who made it across to Thomson's Bay last fortnight and good luck to those of you trying again next weekend at the Port to Pub swim. Interestingly enough, the conditions for this Saturday are in stark contrast to two weeks ago - the wind looks set to be strong early on from the SW at this stage, so it'll be interesting to see how people's expectations fair this week in light of that...

...one things for sure, YOU CAN'T CHANGE IT - you've just got to do your best and keep those arms ticking over until you get there!

Well done everyone - whether you be Solo, Duo or Team - what a brilliant achievement to have under your belt!

Cheers

Your Proud Coach, Paul

Tuesday, February 19, 2019

Tips for this weekend's 2019 Rottnest Channel Swim

Dear Swimmers

In 4 days time many of you will be on Thomson's Bay sucking back a coldie or two and celebrating how you made it across to Rottnest amidst what were some favourable swimming conditions!

I'm always asked to give my thoughts a few day out on what the weather will be like come race day and I usually precede by saying:

"Que sera, sera...whatever will be will be!"

Always at the forefront of my mind when preparing a great number of you to take on this epic swim, is how to prepare you for a wide-ranging multitude of scenarios - to make you the most versatile swimmer you can possibly be. There's always an undertone to every session we do in this regard:

MONDAY (Pure Technique) - we work on the ability to switch and change breathing sides at will and to be able to cope with the need to go a few extra strokes (2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9...) if needs. We work on posture and alignment and your ability to swim the straightest possible line
TUESDAY (Technique / Endurance) - we work on developing your steady state aerobic capacity and your ability to swim with enhanced rhythm into waves, swell and chop through the use of pull buoy, paddles and bands.
WEDNESDAY (Red Mist Endurance) - we work on your ability to pace yourself out well and sustain this, even when you're not feeling at your very best...if you can be the best version of yourself even when you're having a crap day, then you'll go well! Mental fortitude is what Wednesdays are always about.
THURSDAY / FRIDAY (CSS Development) - the one and only number you ever need to know and be aware of as a distance freestyler is your CSS pace...if this gets quicker then everything you do over 400m improves.
SATURDAY (Stoic) - a sage reminder of how to not take yourself too seriously, how to have fun whilst practicing all of the above and to always be grateful for your ability to take onboard these crazy challenges, no matter how daunting they might sometimes appear...no one is holding a gun to your head saying "you must swim!" - so do it for you and you only and all will go well.

So, with that little pep talk under your belt, let's look at this weekend shall we.

First off, your resources:

WEATHER - I like the Willy Weather app (available here: https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/willyweather/id592978502?mt=8)
CURRENTS - the UWA Coastal Oceanography is excellent in this regard (http://www.coastaloceanography.org)
TRACKING - I like the MapSwim app (available here: https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/mapswim/id600020356?mt=8)

Predictions:

The currents around Rottnest Island can be quite changeable and there's no specific forecast for those, but from just tracking the last few days, I believe we'll see very light currents moving from South to North accompanied by light to moderate SW winds (a typical sea breeze but perhaps not so strong) which will kick in from around 11am. Many of the Solo swimmers will be well on their way by that point (and some will be in of course!), but as this wind strengthens over the course of the morning / early afternoon, the biggest gains will be for the faster swimmers (as is often the case - read about 2017 here: http://swimsmoothperth.blogspot.com/2017/03/so-just-how-hard-was-rottnest-channel_9.html).

My recommendation would be to stick to a direct line to Rottnest, possibly edging slightly south especially if you are planning on arriving in Thomson's Bay say after midday. I wouldn't be recommending any radical "very" south or "very" north moves this year, as right now, the conditions don't dictate that...but of course these can change! So here's what we're looking at right now, but check those resources on the day before and you should be set.

Wind (on Saturday)

Wind (today)

Water temperature (today)

Currents (today)

Further reading:

Managing expectation: http://swimsmoothperth.blogspot.com/2017/02/rottnest-swim-2017-managing-expectation.html

Tips on managing your shoulders: https://swimsmoothperth.blogspot.com/2012/02/tips-to-manage-shoulder-fatigue-pain.html

Some video tips from me: https://karmagroup.com/swim17/#lP1FB1vluTSkRYBC.97

How many swimming from the squad?

It's interesting to note that this year I believe we've seen our LOWEST uptake on either the Rottnest Channel Swim or the Port-2-Pub Swim and yet THE SQUAD IS AT AN ALL TIME PEAK in terms of consistent attendance.

I know triathlon specifically has seen a down-turn in participation in recent years (TRI Events folded late last year citing this as a reason for example), but I'm not so sure that's the case with open water swimming?

The Busselton Jetty Swim saw it's biggest completion rate ever and some marvellous conditions too.

My belief is that big events like these two swims and also Ironman etc take a huge toll on the body and family / social / work life balance, so it could simply be that in the average life-cycle of the average squad member that priorities are being directed elsewhere perhaps? I'm not sure. My read on it (and I can relate to this myself) is that give me 2-3 solid training sessions a week that challenge me and my limits, maybe have some kind of competitive element to them, keep me fit and healthy but don't destroy me for everything else that I do, and ultimately I'm a happy camper. Whether or not you think that a Red Mist Endurance Set hasn't "destroyed you" as you doze off at your desk over a long macchiato is purely a matter of perspective 😉

That's not to say that no one should consider doing these types of events (or that we wouldn't support them in that quest - we do, gladly!), but that we have quite a collection of stalwarts within the squad who've "been there, done that, collected at least X number of t-shirts" and so perhaps that's where the life cycle of the squad is right now? Que sera...

As we have a large majority of you having swum with the squad for in excess of 10 years (some as many as 17 - wow!), perhaps that's just where we're all at? And that's OK...I'd love to hear your thoughts and opinions on that if you wanted to email me back? Am I on the right track do you think?

Nevertheless, come Saturday, I know for sure, that if you're swimming - in whatever capacity - that you'll have the full backing and support of every one of our 450+ active squad members wishing you well as you embark on your own personal challenge!

Remember, do it for you and you alone and all else will fall into place.

Good luck!

Proud Coach x

P.S please email me your number and race name (Duo / Team) if you are competing!

Friday, January 18, 2019

Will you be joining us in sunny Mallorca (26th May to 1st June) for the BEST Festival of open water swimming?

A multitude of races over a variety of distances to choose from

Dear Swimmers

Hope you are doing fine this sunny Friday afternoon!

After the last 3 years attending Europe's BEST Fest of open water swimming in Mallorca, Spain, many of you have been enquiring about the possibility of joining us on the magical Mediterranean island to participate yourself in arguably the best open water swimming experience available anywhere on the planet.

Picture this: waking up every morning to join the Swim Smooth team of coaches and other swimmers for a super invigorating 800m swim in the Med, before a relaxed buffet-style breakfast and a casual stroll through the town to the start of the day's race - anywhere from 1.5 to 10km - and then enjoying a late lunch, a sangria or two and then accessing one of the multitude of free swimming clinics and seminars that we offer to support the festival. That's all before a sunset dinner at some of the best casual dining in Europe. Sound good? Multiply by seven and you've got a fabulous week of swimming where you might race anything up to 30+km and with the additional swim sessions and easy morning limber-ups, easily clocking up 40km...if you want to! Take it as seriously or as casually as you wish. Bring or hire a bike and take a 90 minute road trip to access some of the best mountainous riding anywhere on the planet, or bring your trainers for some brilliant coastal trail running around Colonia Sant Jordi.

Think of it like: the Tour de France of open water swimming, accumulating points from each race to a series final in your age group. Meet new swimming friends from literally all over the world and enjoy the company of these like-minded swimmers in an area of extreme natural beauty...and no stingers or sharks either!

Where is it: Colonia Sant Jordi on the southern tip of Mallorca, approximately 50 minutes drive from Palma (the capital). Various hotel accommodations can be booked / quoted via Vanessa at vanessa@bestswimcentre.eu (please quote "Swim Smooth" for the best deals) - we prefer to stay in the THB Sur - not the finest hotel in the area, but great for the budget conscious and right on the Med! An other good option is the Blue Waters, which is right next to the town's 50m pool (as pristine as Claremont Pool it has to be said!)

Event website: entry for the various races can be made at http://www.bestopenwater.com/prices-offers/ - all 7 events plus a free relay entry can be purchased for 250 euros but there is the option to also pick and choose as you wish!

Race as Swim Smooth: I reckon we've got a good chance of being the best attended "club" or even "country" through the "People's Republic of Swim Smooth" - as we're making a big push for other Swim Smooth followers from across the planet to come and join us for one almighty meet-up! So please add "Swim Smooth" as you club name when registering!

Getting there: Swiss Air are offering a return trip from Perth via Singapore and Zurich for just $1460 - see details here. I'd suggest arriving on the Friday 24th May and maybe departing Sunday 2nd June or Monday 3rd June.

Please drop me an email if you're keen on coming for my reference and we'll keep you posted on extra curricular Swim Smooth activities for that week!

Here's some pictures from last year's event to whet your appetite: